Maelstrom of Blades
by DracoArtemisLeopin
Summary: Legendary weapons have an eternity to spend, working alongside heroes to bring peace to many, many worlds. The question is, who is fit to wield them?
1. The Search is Over

Disclaimer: I have never owned any copyrighted material, EVER. I do not receive any payment for any story that I write for , I won't be listing everything that belongs to someone else or the owners, because it would be too big of a hassle for me to list every possible thing that I might borrow from another series. If you really wanna know, tough, look it up yourself.

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Heroes. As time passes they are born, live their lives, save others, and die in various ways. Most of them are fairly ordinary people doing jobs that allow them to help others in ways that could be done by others with similar training and resolve. These are the firefighters, doctors, and lawmen of the world. Then there are those who live in times of war, and are forced to save some lives by taking the lives of others. Soldiers, ninja, and samurai fall into this category.

However, there is one more category of hero, one which only appears at times when the entire world is at a crossroads of calamity and salvation. These are the ones who make legends, and they all make sacrifices to put the world on the proper path. They are blessed with gifts that set them apart from others, that they might succeed in whatever endeavors are necessary for them.

The gifts that they receive are many and varied, but oftentimes a hero of legend will receive a great and powerful weapon, which they use until the end of their days. Eventually, a weapon that has been used for so long develops a spirit of its own, if it didn't already have one, that acts as a partner and friend to the wielder. That brings to mind, however, what happens to these great and terrible weapons once their wielders pass on. Even if the weapons are forged out of the heroes themselves, that doesn't mean that they can follow their partner into death and beyond.

The truth is, that legendary weapons are legendary, not only because of who wielded them and how, but also because they always manage to disappear not long after their partner's death. Occasionally, these weapons will be found whenever a world is in crisis, becoming an eternal symbol of hope and justice, but for the most part, they are never seen again. Where do these blades of legend go? That is a question that many have asked, but no one has found the answer.

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"Maybe I can find one of us a new wielder here. There are certainly people with high energy levels in this village, but I wonder if any of them have the resolve and mindset to wield any of us as a partner." With this sentence and a sigh, a strange man found his way into Konohagakure.

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Meanwhile, an eleven year old blonde boy in an eye-searingly orange jumpsuit was sitting on the swing just outside the Konoha Ninja Academy, cursing the existence of the Clone Jutsu. He had just failed the genin exam for the second time and the fact that he could hear the parents of all the other kids enjoying his misery wasn't helping his mood at all.

"Man, if I didn't know that the genin exam hasn't changed in ten years, I'd swear that they created the clone jutsu just to keep me from becoming a ninja." Now while for anyone else that may sound like they were blaming their shortcomings on someone or something else, for the young boy named Naruto, it was simply a fact of life. He knew that the majority of the villagers in the Hidden Leaf Village hated him, civilian and ninja alike, regardless of the fact that he acted the fool most of the time.

Naruto decided to go and take a walk to clear his head, as well as try to think of some new prank ideas to get a bit of payback on the people who had shown such joy at the fact that he was very close to losing his dream forever. He generally thought that the best revenge against the villagers was to keep smiling, but he had been on his best behavior for a month before the test, and he only had so much patience for the way that people treated him. He needed payback every once in a while. Nothing serious or dangerous, but there would be no way to hide it or deny that it was Naruto's doing, even if there was no way to prove it.

He knew that he needed to get some fresh food and better ninja supplies, so he chose to stop by the foreign stalls on his way home. With as much as he got overcharged in Konoha's stores and restaurants, except for Ichiraku Ramen, it was actually cheaper for him to buy imported food and ninja tools, especially since he refused to use the Transformation Jutsu to shop. It wasn't the fact that a lot of the foreign foods and weapons looked really cool. Nope, not at all… okay, maybe a little.

As Naruto made his way to the square where all the foreign traders and merchants set up their stalls, he made a mental checklist of everything that he needed to buy. He started off by visiting the various food stands to get as much as he could without risking anything spoiling. After that, he began looking at various weapons for sale. What he could buy here wasn't as good as the weapons that ninja blacksmiths within the village could make, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Of course it didn't help that nobody was really fond of the idea of selling weapons to a kid who isn't even a genin yet, but given that it was a ninja village, none of them put up that much of a fuss.

Of course there were exceptions to every rule, "Why won't you sell me anything you jerk!" Naruto angrily yelled at the weapons vendor in front of him. The man was wearing what looked like a strange white coat with fur trim and the piece of cloth in front of his leggings had an intricate purple Y shape on it. His eyes were surrounded with purple makeup in a spiky pattern and he had extremely long fingernails. Lastly, his shaggy brown hair was about shoulder-length and two of his bangs crossed in an X shape between his eyes.

"These are not toys, you insolent child!" even the odd-looking man's voice was strange. It sounded almost regal, and even when he was obviously angry, he sounded like the entire world was going according to plan. "And my name is Muramasa, not 'you jerk.' Why would I ever allow any of my weapons to be wielded by the hands of an unskilled loudmouth such as yourself?"

"At least I don't look like a freak! And if you're going to be so picky about names, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, not insulate child!"

Naruto managed to actually get Muramasa's eye to twitch before he yelled back, "I SAID INSOLENT NOT INSULATE MR. FISHCAKE WHIRLWIND!" Muramasa caught himself and said in a more restrained voice, "And I do not sell weapons to children, no matter what their name is."

"I'M NOT A- wait, I actually am a child, but I'm gonna be a ninja, so I need to know how to use weapons, and that means that I have to train with them. Come ooon, you gotta be able to sell to future ninja, right?" Naruto decided that maybe pissing off this Muramasa guy wasn't such a good idea.

Meanwhile, Muramasa was losing patience with his prospective "customer." "How about this; you and I fight with shinai right now, and if you win, I'll sell you one of my blades, but if I win, you leave right now."

"What's a shinai?"

This blonde pest didn't even know what a shinai was and he wanted to buy weapons from him. Muramasa felt like chasing him off for his stupidity, but instead chose to go ahead and get this Naruto Uzumaki child out of his hair. He took a deep breath and explained, "It's a practice sword made out of bamboo so that while it still hurts, neither of us will take permanent damage or die."

"Oh, you're on then, go ahead and give me one so we can begin."

Muramasa reached into his wagon and tossed one of the shinai within to Naruto before grabbing one for himself and holding it loosely by his side. Naruto barely took the time to make sure that he was holding the right end before he charged at Muramasa and jumped in the air, trying to do a straight overhead chop with both hands. Muramasa didn't even change expressions as his shinai swung upwards into Naruto's with a blur. As they clashed however, his expression changed due to the crushing loneliness and desperation he felt from Naruto's shinai.

 _To be able to feel such strong loneliness from such a young child! And I doubt I felt even half of what he's feeling. To be able to transfer such strong emotions through a_ shinai _of all things, what have I stumbled upon here!? I'm sure he'll be able to be a wielder for at least one of us._

Muramasa's blow blew Naruto's shinai into the air, and it threw the boy himself into the wall opposite his opponent's stand. Muramasa reached up and caught the other shinai as it fell back down, all the while watching as Naruto pulled himself back up after he fall from the wall that he impacted.

Naruto rubbed his head a bit sheepishly both from habit and the pain. "Guess that means I lost, huh? Well, I'll get going."

"Hold on, I think that I'll go with you." Muramasa felt the need to learn more about and test the lonely boy in front of him.

"But I lost the fight, and that means I lost the bet too, so I have to leave." Naruto said, a bit confused.

"And you are, but the fact that you would even accept such a challenge has me interested, plus I rarely get the chance to sight-see and you're the only customer that I've had all day."

"Well, alrighty then." Was the orange-clad child's response to the odd request, followed quickly by, "by the way, why wouldn't you sell any weapons to me? I know you said it's because I'm a child, but you can't _not_ sell to children in a ninja village, especially if some of them are ninja."

"It's a little hard to explain, but I see what you are saying." Muramasa thought about it for a minute before replying to Naruto. "I suppose it's because I see it not as selling weapons to a ninja, but more like finding partners for my friends."

"Friends?"

"The blades I 'sell.' I consider them good friends of mine. As such, it is my duty to ensure that they find wielders who will cherish them for years as a partner, and not merely as a tool to use in battle. Although I forgot that some of their wielders were only a few years older than you the first time that they were wielded."

After Muramasa's exclamation, the two walked in silence for a few minutes while Naruto had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hey, a partner is kinda like a friend right?"

The boy's question took Muramasa by surprise. "Well… yes, it is similar, although a partnership is often a more formal arrangement. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I figured that if I couldn't buy a weapon, maybe I could pay you to help me find a partner." Naruto looked back and grinned at Muramasa as he said this.

He found the young Uzumaki's grin to be infectious as he responded, "That sounds like an excellent idea. But I think I may have a better one. Meet me at a training ground of your choice, and I'll let them choose there."

"Alright, how about training ground 7? I don't know why, but it's never used by anybody, so we'll be alone there!" was Naruto's enthusiastic answer.

"Alright, I'll see you there in twenty minutes, I just have to retrieve your prospective partners."

"Okay, I'll see you there!" in an orange flash, he was gone.

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When Muramasa arrived at training ground 7, all he was carrying was a scroll about half his height and as thick around as he was.* Naruto quickly rose from his seat on the ground and ran over to the person he considered to be his new friend.

"Hey, you're here! But, where are the weapons?"

Muramasa quirked the tiniest of smiles before unrolling his scroll on the ground and began to explain. "Listen Naruto, I carry two types of 'merchandise' with me. The first, and most obvious, type is the normal blades, shuriken, and kunai that any shop could offer with varying quality. The second type of weapons that I carry along is a group of swords known as Legendary Blades. All of them have both unique names and powers, and can only be wielded those who they choose to be worthy. Every last one of them has been wielded by at least one hero who saved at least one world. The blade that chooses you will be your mentor, protector, and partner until the day that you either die or cease to be worthy of it, do you understand?"

"Yes, every sword in that scroll is incredibly awesome, and if one of them picks me, then I get to be a great hero and save the world and stuff, right?"

) _I suppose that is the best that I should expect from a twelve year old, but at least he seems to get the general idea of what I was trying to say._

"I see that you understand… well, at least enough. Then sign your name in your own blood and put your handprint right here." At this Muramasa pointed at the first blank space in the scroll. "As soon as you have done so, the blade that chooses you will be summoned forth."

Naruto quickly did as Muramasa said, and as soon as his handprint hit the paper, there was an enormous explosion of summoning smoke.

The smoke took a good minute to clear, but once it did, Muramasa said one thing nobody expected to hear from him as he took an increasingly bug-eyed look around the clearing. "HOLY SHIT!"

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Authors Note: think of the toad summoning scroll that Jiraiya has Naruto sign, and you'll have just about a perfect copy in terms of appearance. P.S. if you don't know who that is, then why on Earth are you reading a Naruto fanfiction?


	2. Forging a Bond

Disclaimer: I have never owned any copyrighted material, EVER. I do not receive any payment for any story that I write for , I won't be listing everything that belongs to someone else or the owners, because it would be too big of a hassle for me to list every possible thing that I might borrow from another series. If you really wanna know, tough, look it up yourself.

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 _What the… How in the hell? Who on earth is this child? This should not be possible…_

Muramasa was still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that Naruto had achieved something that should be completely impossible.

He wasn't completely surprised by the fact that Naruto had summoned more than one legendary sword. It was unusual, but ever since Wado Ichimonji, Shusui, and Sandai Kitetsu first shared a partner, they were nearly inseparable.

No, what had prompted him to yell out in disbelief was the fact that Naruto Uzumaki had summoned EVERY legendary sword*. Muramasa even saw lords Ryujin Jakka and Excalibur in the throng.

"Um, did I do something wrong?" Muramasa looked over at his new wielder with a gob smacked expression on his face.

"Wrong… He achieves the impossible and wants to know if he did something wrong," Muramasa muttered to himself before schooling his features and replying to Naruto, "It's not that you did something wrong, it's more that you achieved the impossible. You summoned every legendary blade that is linked to this contract, when the most that anybody else has ever had access to is three of us."

"Whoa, really? That's awesome! I'll be hokage in no time! But wait a minute…" Naruto appeared to be deep in thought for a moment. "If you said us, then that means that you're one too right?"

"I'm glad that you caught that, Naruto. As I said before, I am named Muramasa, and I am a special kind of sword called a zanpakutou. I would recommend that you gain some experience with some of the other blades here before you attempt to wield me as your partner." Muramasa had a small smile on his face as he gave advice to his new wielder.

"But if you're a sword, then how come you have a full human body and everything?" Naruto was still understandably confused by this fact.

"It is a part of my power, Naruto, but I'll explain later. For now you stay here while I have a talk with the others to decide what to do about this."

The blonde boy quickly adopted a look of worry at his friend's words. "Does this mean I can't be friends with all of you?"

 _That's odd, he looks almost frantic not to lose any of us._ "Don't worry Naruto, we just need to come to an arrangement about how all of us will be wielded by you."

Naruto's look of relief seemed strange to Muramasa, but he decided to leave his curiosity for later. He quickly walked over to where he saw the other sword spirits gathering to discuss their newest wielder.

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"So this guy will be my first partner?" Naruto was holding a three foot sword with a blue cloth wrapped handle and a plain looking blade. The hilt looked like a bronze third of a circle with a small design in the center. Altogether, it looked effective, but not especially unique.

"Not exactly" Muramasa began to explain the blade to Naruto. "That sword is nameless, but it will be used to summon the rest of us. What you will have to do is put some of your own blood on the blade and then call out the name of the one that you want to summon. We considered just giving you the scroll to use, but that would leave you without any sword at all most of the time. This way you will always have a way to defend yourself. What's more, it should take barely any chakra to summon us now."

The idea for the summoning sword came from Ashisogi Jizo, but it was a bit of Muramasa's blade and blood that really made it work. Needless to say, both of them were very proud of themselves.

But before they started patting themselves on the back, Naruto needed to be trained as a proper swordsman first.

"Naruto," He looked up from where he was inspecting his new sword, "You're going to need to train very hard to be able to use us to our full potential." Naruto's eager nodding threw off his rhythm a bit, but he continued without missing a beat. "As such we all have assigned some teachers to teach you the proper way to use a sword."

"Alright, can we start now?"

"…Very well, you will need to summon Excalibur first, then once his lesson's done, brace yourself and summon Benihime. I will warn you though, there is a good chance you will die while training with her."

Naruto shivered a bit, "Geez do you have to make it sound so scary?" His face morphed into his trademark grin. "Whatever it is, I'll do it! To become Hokage!"

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Authors Note: think of Ichigo's bankai training field of swords and it will look pretty similar.

2nd Authors Note: If anybody has any specific swords that they want put in the story, please place a review with the sword's name and media(game, anime, manga, book, legend) that it originates from. Keep in mind that they have to be swords that aren't like the cornerstone of the universe(Link's Master sword, keyblades, etc.).

3rd Authors Note: I don't know who it was, but thank you for pointing out that Soul Caliber and Soul Edge were "out-of-bounds" regarding my guidelines. I had honestly that that the story of their games was that the two swords summoned swordsmen from different universes to fight each other. Basically, Smash Bros with weapons.


	3. Graduation

Disclaimer: I have never owned any copyrighted material, EVER. I do not receive any payment for any story that I write for , I won't be listing everything that belongs to someone else or the owners, because it would be too big of a hassle for me to list every possible thing that I might borrow from another series. If you really wanna know, tough, look it up yourself.

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 _Alright, this time I'll become a genin for sure! There's no way that they can stop me from becoming a ninja with all the training I've gone through, even_ if _I still can't use the clone jutsu._

Truth be told, Naruto was extremely nervous about his genin exam, especially since this is the last time he could take it before his chance to become a ninja was gone forever. He was positive that Benihime's hellish training was preparation enough to pass, but… what if it wasn't?

In preparation for today, Naruto had both been paying attention in class (regardless of how hard he found that to be) and training his overall combat ability against Benihime (quite honestly, her laughter haunted his dreams nowadays). Hell, he had even given triple his normal amount at Lady Amaterasu's shrine while he prayed for success this time.

 **-Standard school exam-**

Naruto tried his level best, but he knew that test-taking was his worst skill. He was a bit better now that Excalibur had given him some tips and tricks for reading and math, but history, except the stuff about the fourth Hokage, was an absolute bust.

 **-Taijutsu Spars-**

Now this was something Naruto was good at! Even better, he was paired against Iruka-sensei, so he was sure that he'd get a fair fight. Iruka looked a little confused when instead of the academy taijutsu stance, legs spread steadily with the left leg forward and fists spread as if dual wielding kunai, Naruto assumed a stance that he had never seen before.

He was leaning forwards just a little, with his body lower and his legs farther apart, although his left leg was still the one in front. His left hand was held loosely about a foot in front of his face, his right loosely clenched about a foot from his hip, as if he was preparing to draw a sword from behind his back.

Being a little concerned about that his pupil might not be able to fight effectively in his current stance, Iruka decided to speak up. "Naruto, are you sure that you'll be able to fight effectively like that?"

"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei, I know what I'm doing."

Although still a bit worried, Iruka knew that he couldn't press the issue any further without looking like he was playing favorites. All he could do was hope that Naruto actually knew how to fight in such an odd manner.

"Begin!"

When he saw Naruto leap towards him, Iruka quickly moved his arms to both block and prepare for a throw. He didn't expect Naruto to kick the ground in front of him, causing him to spin around in preparation for a backhand strike. He barely had time to raise his left arm to block the strike before it caught him in the face. When Naruto turned his hand around and used it to speed up his own knee strike, Iruka was unable to switch from grabbing Naruto's wrist to blocking in time to stop the blow to his stomach. Although he had just taken an unexpectedly heavy blow, Iruka quickly swept Naruto's leg while keeping hold of his arm and pushing against his neck. The only warning he had of Naruto's attack was a brief grin on his student's face. He quickly ducked under Naruto's foot and was forced to let go of Naruto as he jumped back, keeping a knife hand strike from stabbing him in the armpit. Naruto had managed to twist around so much; he landed face first on the ground. Iruka quickly capitalized on this, moving in and tapping the back of Naruto's neck before he could get up, still dazed from the impact. With this, Naruto's Taijutsu exam was over.

"That's an interesting style, Naruto, but if you ever plan to use it in battle, you'll need to keep yourself from landing on your face"

"Uuuurgh… Got it, Iruka-sensei."

 **-Academy Jutsu Test-**

"… and finally, please demonstrate the Clone Jutsu, Naruto."

 _AAAARGH! I did fine on the other two! Why can't they just forget that damn Clone Jutsu!?_

"Errr, right… here goes! Clone Jutsu!"

To be brutally honest, Naruto's Clone Jutsu was completely pathetic. He made one clone. One dead, paper white, midget clone.

Iruka wanted to pass Naruto, he really did, but given the results in the standardized exam that Mizuki graded, the Clone Jutsu was the only thing that could have gotten him his headband.

"I'm sorry, Naruto… you failed."

Saying Naruto was devastated would be like saying the Hidden Stone Village found the Fourth Hokage annoying.

"Come now, Iruka, it's his third time taking this exam, and he was able to produce a clone, can't you cut him some slack?"

"The other students were able to produce at least three effective clones. Naruto was barely able to produce one clone, and look at it. I cannot in good conscience allow Naruto to pass as he is now."

It was agony watching everyone else who got a headband later.

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Later, as Naruto was on his way home…

"Naruto!"

"Huh? What is it Mizuki-sensei?"

About thirty minutes later, in a nearby park.

"Iruka-sensei knows what it's like to be alone. His parents were killed in the fox attack and he didn't have any other family."

"But why does he only pick on me!?"

"…to be honest, you probably remind him of himself. That's why he wants you to be truly strong. I'm sure you can imagine how he feels, seeing as you are both orphans."

Naruto could see Mizuki-sensei's point, but still… "I just wanted to pass, so badly…"

Mizuki glanced over at Naruto for a second, an unreadable expression in his eye.

"Well then, I guess I've got no choice. I'm gonna have to tell you…"

When Mizuki-sensei finished explaining, it seemed a little fishy, but Naruto was too desperate to care.

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"Naruto, I don't think that this is a good idea." Muramasa, although disappointed that Naruto had not passed, was not nearly as desperate as Naruto was to see the Leaf symbol on Naruto's head.

"Ahh, come on, why would Mizuki-sensei lie? And this is my last chance to become a genin before I'm forced to withdraw from the academy to work as something else."

Muramasa narrowed his eyes a little at this information, especially since he had looked up the laws himself, and while it was _technically_ legal for Naruto's orphan stipend to be cut off on his third academy failure, it was generally only cut off on an orphan's sixteenth birthday, even if they had already been a ninja for a year or two. He decided to go ahead and add it to the veritable encyclopedia of things that people did to Naruto that just didn't add up. Given that Naruto still wouldn't tell him who his parents were, it was possible they were the problem, but then again he had never seen such discrimination in any of the other ninja villages when he visited them. In fact, he had seen actual traitors treated better than Naruto. It was as if he was missing one crucial piece of information on Naruto that nobody else was willing to share.

"Very well, just make sure to bring us with you, just in case something happens."

"Alright, but unless there's some cool weapon jutsu in that scroll, I don't think that I'm gonna need you guys with me."

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"Naruto, is there any particular reason that you've snuck into my house with a sword?" Although worded as a polite question, Naruto got the real meaning real quick 'what the hell are you doing here, and why?'

His response was immediate and unexpected. (To Sarutobi anyway)

"SEXY JUTSU!"

I'd say that the Hokage didn't know what hit him, but I think that his unconscious grin and the small puddle of blood on the floor speak for themselves.

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"Okay, let's see, the first jutsu is 'Shadow Clone Jutsu,' GAH! Why the hell does it have to be a clone jutsu!? Oh well, since this is the first one, I guess I'm supposed to learn this one first. Nothing for it but to get to work!"

As Naruto 'got to work' Muramasa decided that if Naruto was going to do this, he might as well get a little 'extra credit' as well.

 _Naruto._

 _Yeah, Muramasa?_

 _If you're going ahead and learning that jutsu, why not go ahead and memorize the steps for the next one down?_

 _Yeeeaaaah, I don't think that's gonna work. I'm not so good at learning two things at once._

 _Then how about this? Use_ **Mokuju** _and_ I'll _learn the steps for the next jutsu for you to learn._

 _Oh, I guess that could work. But I get to pick it and then it's right back to shadow clones._

 _Agreed._

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As Iruka raced towards the secluded shack in the woods where he suspected Naruto to be, he couldn't help but wonder why _in the **hell**_ Naruto had stolen the forbidden scroll of sealing. It just didn't fit with the way that Naruto worked. He almost never stole anything, and when he did, it was either for a prank or like that one time he had stolen that new desk for Iruka. (he was still trying to figure out how Naruto did that without storage seals, chakra techniques, or missing lunch, _in the middle of a school day)_ he NEVER stole unless it was for a good cause, in Naruto's eyes at least.

Whatever the reason, it looked like he was about to find out, as he had just arrived in the clearing where Naruto was rolling up the forbidden scroll of sealing with a sword slung across his back.

 _Since when does Naruto have a sword? I don't think that there was a sword sealed in there, but I guess I'll just have to ask Lord Hokage about it once I bring Naruto back._

"So, Naruto, what do you have to say for yourself?" Iruka asked.

Naruto spun around and grabbed for his sword with a speed that made Iruka extremely curious. He relaxed once he saw that the Iruka was the person who had spoken, then, sporting a quickly-donned face-splitting grin, he replied, "I found you Iruka-sensei!"

 **Iruka Ninja Art: Big Head Jutsu**

"IDIOT! I'm the one who found you!"

Naruto kept his grin on as he scratched the back of his head, "Hehe, just a little joke Iruka-sensei, but enough of that! I managed to learn a jutsu from this scroll! That means that I can become a genin, right?"

At Naruto's words, Iruka started to sense that something might be wrong. "Naruto, who told you that?"

"Mizuki-sensei, of course! He told me that if I learn a jutsu from this special test scroll and show it to you; I'd pass and become a genin!"

 _Mizuki!? SHI-_

Naruto went flying as something made an odd TH-TH-TH-TH-THUNK noise. "Oww, Iruka-sensei, what was that…"

Naruto trailed off because he saw that the scarred instructor had shoved out of the path of a rain of kunai.

"Good job finding him, Iruka." A new voice entered the clearing, and with it…

"I see what you're up to now, Mizuki!"

A smirk worked its way onto the white-haired instructor's face as Naruto stared in confusion at Iruka. "Naruto, if you want to pass, then give me the scroll!

"Naruto! No matter what happens, you can't let Mizuki get his hands on that scroll! It's a dangerous scroll that contains forbidden Jutsu! Mizuki manipulated you to steal it!"

Naruto turned and glared up at Mizuki as the traitor adopted a sadistic smile. "Hey, Naruto, haven't you ever wondered why the whole village hates you? I'll tell you the truth, the reason why this village will never allow you to become a ninja!"

Despite the fact that Mizuki was a liar and a traitor, Naruto couldn't help but desperately listen. He'd always thought that it was his parentage that earned the hatred of the village, but could there be another reason for their hatred?

"Don't! It's forbidden, Mizuki!"

"12 years ago, on the day that the nine-tailed fox was defeated by the Fourth Hokage, a special law was passed, one that you were never to know of."

"A law? What law is that?" Naruto was becoming increasingly desperate.

Mizuki began to laugh at the look on Naruto's face.

"Please! Tell me!" Naruto was actually on the verge of going into dogeza so that Mizuki would finally reveal why he was so hated.

"The law is that no one is allowed to talk about the fact that the beast wasn't killed, merely sealed into the body of a newborn child. NARUTO, YOU ARE THE NINE-TAILED FOX!"

Naruto felt his world begin to shatter. "Wh-what do you mean? How could I…"

"You were sealed by the hokage you admire so much!"

"Stop it, Mizuki!" Iruka's voice rang out

"Everyone lied to you! That's why everyone hates you! Iruka is the same as the rest! You killed his parents, how couldn't he hate you! You will never be loved or accepted! NEVER!"

At Mizuki's last statement, Naruto fell to ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He didn't even see the giant shuriken headed straight for his head.

CHING…

Naruto noticed a shadow falling on him and looked up to see Iruka… with a giant shuriken sticking out of his back. "Why?" Naruto's question echoed through the clearing, full of despair.

"Because we're the same, Naruto. After my parents died, I was so lonely. I wasn't that good at school, so I ended up becoming the class clown for attention. It was… so painful. I can only imagine how you, who never got to know his parents in the first place, suffered. I'm so sorry, Naruto, if I had done a better job, then you never would have had to feel this way."

Naruto looked up at Iruka for a moment before he scrambled up and ran off.

"Naruto!"

Mizuki's sadistic laugh cut through the air in the clearing. "Naruto isn't going to be swayed by some pathetic sob story. He's going to use the scroll to take revenge on the village. You saw his eyes; those were the eyes of a true demon."

"Naruto's not like that."

"Well whatever, I'll just kill Naruto and take the scroll off his corpse." With that parting statement, Mizuki leapt into the air to pursue Naruto.

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"…cause I'm Iruka." Naruto had happened to see Iruka transformed into him body-slam Mizuki and came over to observe. He was terrified and ashamed and furious all at once, but he figured if he listened in on the conversation between his two teachers, he would figure out what to do.

To be fair, he's twelve and had just been told something that would make many people thrice his age commit suicide on the spot.

"So, you'd even take on the appearance of the beast that killed your parents to keep the scroll from coming into my possession. It'd be impressive if it weren't so damn pathetic."

"I can't let the scroll fall into the hands of someone like you." Despite the fact that he'd lost the ability to move, Iruka was still determined to stop Mizuki.

"'Someone like me?' You idiot. Naruto and I are the same! By using the skills in that scroll, someone can do whatever they want! You can't seriously believe that the demon fox wouldn't use something of such incredible power for its own gain."

"You know what? You're absolutely right." Naruto was crushed once more. _Even Iruka-sensei hates me, I'm sure that Muramasa and the others could have found a much worthier wielder. Maybe I should just-_

"That is what the nine-tailed fox would do. But Naruto is far different. He is one of my most promising students!"

Naruto raised his head and listened as a whole new feeling grew within him.

"He might not be the hardest worker, and he's still a little clumsy, and because no one accepts him he knows the pain of heartache. He is not the nine-tailed demon fox. He is a loyal citizen of The Village Hidden in the Leaves, Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto felt the tears run down his face as he felt the biggest sense of relief that he'd ever felt. _Iruka-sensei believes in me! I-I'm so happy!_

He didn't see Mizuki's look of agitation, but he did hear him speak. "Well, Iruka, I said that I'd take care of you later, but I seem to have changed my mind. Its time for you to HURRY UP AND DIE!"

 _I'm sorry, Naruto. I should have protected you from Mizuki and his plot. Make sure and tell the Hokage everything you saw and heard here tonight. Goodbye…_

CLANG!

Iruka opened his eyes and looked forwards. He was surprised to see that Naruto had knocked Mizuki's shuriken into the air and threw back Mizuki with one swing. It took him a moment to notice that the sword Naruto had now was not the one he'd been carrying the whole night.

This new sword was almost as tall as Iruka for one thing, and for another, it was as wide as Naruto was. Its hand guard had two roughly tama-shaped holes, one in front and one in back, with what looked like two waves moving into a spiral on either side of the blade. The handle was wrapped with red cloth and had two blue strings hanging off of the pommel. (Ichigo's first zanpakutou)

Naruto brought the sword down from its upswung position and put it in a ready stance as he glared at Mizuki. "If you _ever_ hurt Iruka-sensei, I won't just kill you. I'll hang you with your own intestines."

"You little brat, don't bother trying to intimidate me, I'll kill you in one shot!"

"Gimme your best shot, fool!" As Naruto spoke, he moved his fingers into the hand seal that would become his specialty.

 **Shadow Clone Jutsu**

"I'll give it back to you a thousand fold!" This was the sound of around a thousand Narutos speaking at once.

Mizuki understandably began to panic. "Wha-what the hell is this!"

 _Naruto, you did all this?_ Iruka thought.

"What's wrong? Weren't you gonna kill me in one shot?" Naruto sheathed Zangetsu's asauchi form across his back and cracked his knuckles as a sadistic smile snuck its way onto his face. "Well then, I hope you don't mind if I take the first shot!"

Naruto's clones all rushed in as Mizuki began to scream "AAAAAAAAAA _AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!_ "

( _This part_ is where Mizuki's voice shoots up in pitch; I let you draw your own conclusions as to why.)

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As Mizuki lay in a heap on the ground, Naruto turned away to check on Iruka-sensei, who by now had healed himself out of immediate danger.

"That was fun! Oh, and don't worry, he shouldn't die from what I did to him, no matter how much he may want to."

Iruka began to worry a little for his student's mental health after hearing this combined with his threat from just before the fight, but since most of the jounin are at least a little bit insane, he decided to forget it for now.

"Hey, Naruto, come here for a minute and close your eyes"

Naruto did as he was told and a couple of minutes later…

"Okay, you can open them now"

When Naruto opened his eyes, he wondered where Iruka-sensei's headband went.

"Congratulations, Naruto. You have now graduated from the Academy."

Naruto was speechless. _I.. pass? Then this weight on my forehead must be- and Iruka-sensei…_

"And to celebrate, I'm taking us out for ramen tomorrow night."

Naruto borderline exploded into motion. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"

 _I was going to lecture Naruto on the perils of being a shinobi, but I guess that can wait until we're at Ichiraku's._

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Author's Note: Yes Naruto knows the names of the swords that he summons, but that doesn't mean that he gets access to shikai for zanpakutou right away. I also realize that Naruto acted a little more bloodthirsty than canon. All of these will be addressed in the future. Also, my update schedule will be a little erratic.

P.S. Reviews are always welcome. If I can write it better or if I messed something up, I'd like to know about it. Especially any grammar or spelling errors. To me, things like that drop a story's "picture" from HD to standard TV to animated crayon drawings if they're bad enough.


	4. The truth hurts

Disclaimer: I have never owned any copyrighted material, EVER. I do not receive any payment for any story that I write for , I won't be listing everything that belongs to someone else or the owners, because it would be too big of a hassle for me to list every possible thing that I might borrow from another series. If you really wanna know, tough, look it up yourself.

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While Iruka may have wanted to take Naruto straight home before he made a stop at the Medical Corps for injuries, he took Naruto and Mizuki, who was still out cold, directly to the Hokage Tower. It was fairly easy to explain what happened to ANBU and have them take care of the traitor, but what Iruka was really worried about was the fact that Naruto had just found out about the Kyuubi(fox) in a very stressful situation without all the facts. It was imperative that he get any misconceptions cleared up before they set in in Naruto's mind. His student respected him, but he knew that if he wanted Naruto to really know what was going on, and believe it, then the Third Hokage was the best person for the job.

Judging by the fact that they had barely dropped of Mizuki when the summoned to his office, he obviously felt the same.

As the bedraggled pair sat across from the old man, he let out a sigh and leaned back for a couple of seconds. After that he straightened up and adopted an expression that was a combination of exhaustion and grave severity. Only then did he begin to speak. "Naruto, I truly did not wish for you to know of your burden for a few years yet."

Naruto cast his head down as he replied, "So it's true, I _am_ the nine-tails. I guess I should go ahead and leave before I-"

CRACK!

Anyone looking in would notice a few things different from before. Firstly, the Hokage's desk had been absolutely crushed under his own hand. Secondly, Naruto had a large welt on his cheek and was lying on the floor.

But most surprisingly, a man had appeared out of nowhere with an expression of absolute rage on his face to deliver the punishing blow to the newly-minted genin's face.

Muramasa paid little attention to the ANBU threatening his life as he began to berate Naruto. "How dare you, Naruto! Do our opinions mean NOTHING to you!? Do you possibly think that there is any way that any one of us would partner with the nine-tailed demon fox!? Don't you DARE give up on your life's dream because of some traitor's words and an inferiority complex!"

"That is quite similar to what I was going to say, but I must ask who you are and why you are addressing young Naruto here so familiarly. I am well acquainted with everyone that lives in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, but I have never seen you before." The Hokage's words carried a mixture of his momentary rage from a few moments before, a healthy heaping of caution, curiosity, and an iron protective will.

As soon as he had said his piece to Naruto Muramasa had begun to calm down, so by the time that the Hokage had finished speaking, he had his usual calm and regal appearance back. Likewise, when he answered, his voice held none of its previous rage.

"My name is Muramasa, and until your guard detail leaves, that is all that I am safely able to share. It's fine I they're just outside, so long as they are unable to hear within the chamber, but I believe that your original business should be finished first, as your word would mean much to Master Naruto"

 _Master? I will have to hear more in a little bit. For now…_

"Naruto," the boy quickly turned his rapidly-healing face towards his grandfather figure. "While it is true that the Kyuubi was sealed within you, that does not mean that you and the fox are one and the same. Much as a scroll with a kunai sealed into it is not a kunai in and of itself, you and the fox are separate entities. It is the prisoner and you are the warden. The Fourth trusted that you would keep the village safe from the beast, and that you would eventually learn to channel the demon's power as a shinobi of the leaf." Ever since the word 'warden' the Third Hokage had had a small smile on his face. Many would call it a proud grandfather smile, and it was directed at Naruto.

"But why would he trust _me_ of all people?"

Naruto's particular choice of words froze Sarutobi's smile, which dropped into a concerned frown as he asked a question that he had honestly never thought that he'd ever ask the orange genin. "Why would the Fourth Hokage trust you any less than any other newborn that night?"

Naruto stared at the Hokage confusedly before he answered with what he KNEW to be common knowledge, even though it had always hurt and always would hurt. "Well, isn't it obvious? My father was a traitorous child rapist, and my mother killed and ate his victims."

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Before anyone asks, Naruto's parentage will stay the same as canon.


	5. But Lies Hurt More

Disclaimer: I have never owned any copyrighted material, EVER. I do not receive any payment for any story that I write for , I won't be listing everything that belongs to someone else or the owners, because it would be too big of a hassle for me to list every possible thing that I might borrow from another series. If you really wanna know, tough, look it up yourself.

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Following the Naruto's declaration of who his "parents" were, it seemed as if the whole world went stock still and silent for a moment. Then the temperature in the room seemed to drop to levels that would make the Land of Snow seem like the tropics.

"Naruto, I can guess that you don't like talking about this, but who, exactly, told you that load of horseshit?"

Naruto actually looked a little offended at that, but he responded anyway. "You don't have to hide it anymore Gramps. I've known that I was purebred human scum since I was five. And nobody told me, I just overheard a couple of ninja talk about where the files about my parents were and I snuck in, stole their files and lit a small fire so no one would know. I read them at home. I still have them as a matter of fact."

Throughout Naruto's explanation, there had been a… pressure… of sorts, building throughout the room. As soon as he revealed that he still had the files, Sarutobi's head snapped up and he barked one word. "Where?"

Naruto was shocked at how furious the Third sounded. He quickly told him where he had hidden the files in his apartment. Five minutes later, Dog was back and growling like his namesake. He'd read the file on the way, and he was surprised that Naruto Uzumaki hadn't committed suicide if he thought that his parents were monsters like that.

Once the Hokage had read through the file at lightning speed, he could see who had written up the two phony files. He then motioned Cat over and gave one of his most chilling orders ever. "Arrest Sieji Noumi and tell Ibiki and Anko to go wild for at least a week before letting him die. Tell them to read the file that he created to be Naruto Uzumaki's parents if they ever start to feel sorry for this piece of shit."

"Yes, sir!"

Cat was out the window in less than a second.

 _Now that that's taken care of…_

For those who remained, it was a huge shock to see Hiruzen Sarutobi, God of Shinobi, Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, drop own into dogeza in front of Naruto. "Please, Naruto, forgive me. I should have seen how you changed. I should have been able to prevent this. I should have protected you from such a malicious and horrific act."

Naruto wouldn't have believed the Hokage if he'd tried to show him files of his 'real' parents. He wouldn't have believed him if he'd only had the guy who wrote the reports tortured to death. But the fact that the Hokage was begging for his forgiveness and crying showed Naruto that he had been wrong for seven years. Seven years of believing that he was lower than dirt. Seven years of wishing that he'd never been born. Seven years of self-hatred and pain. So when he found out that he had been tricked, what do you think he did?

He cried, he pulled the Hokage up and he hugged him as tight as he possibly could. Then he cried some more. About thirty minutes later, Naruto had cried himself to sleep for the first time since the night he stole those files. Only this time, instead of tears of despair and loneliness, he'd cried himself to sleep with tears of joy. Tonight wouldn't heal what those seven years had done to his psyche, but it strengthened what was left.

And so he slept with a happy smile on his face.

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Forgive me for the short chapters this time and last, but I thought it just wouldn't have flowed as well if I hadn't stopped where I had. These two chapters _do_ serve a purpose other than letting me practice my more emotional writing. Naruto is, in fact, a psychopath. Now that doesn't mean that he'll go all Hannibal Lecter on people, but it does in fact highlight the point that Naruto's priorities and morals are more than a little skewed. And before anyone gets on me for making a psychopath a hero, let me just point out a couple of things. Ichigo Kurosaki suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. Accel World makes teenagers use their psychological scars as weapons. Kirito goes into a berserk rage during battle sometimes. Might Gai and Rock Lee, enough said.

Review response:

 ** _Karlos1234ify and swordsmanwielder_** : I thank you for reading, but I'm afraid that you got the wrong idea. It was never my intention to bash either Minato or Kushina, Naruto merely has incorrect information. If you're looking for me to bash anybody, then I'm afraid that you are reading the wrong story.


	6. Introductions and Bad Manners

Disclaimer: I have never owned any copyrighted material, EVER. I do not receive any payment for any story that I write for , I won't be listing everything that belongs to someone else or the owners, because it would be too big of a hassle for me to list every possible thing that I might borrow from another series. If you really wanna know, tough, look it up yourself.

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Naruto had fallen asleep in the Hokage's lap around an hour ago, so Sarutobi decided to set him down on the cot that he kept for late nights in the office until he could take the boy home. Of course, he made sure that he activated the silence seals around it at the same time.

"Naruto won't be able to hear a thing we speak of from this point on. As such, I believe that we can get to the matter of who _you_ are, Muramasa."

"I made my conditions for speaking with you clear, Sarutobi." Unlike when Naruto would call the Hokage gramps or old man, the lack of the Hokage's title was clearly meant to convey a distinct lack of respect.

"I appreciate the need for privacy, but you can't honestly expect me to dismiss my entire guard detail for a complete unknown." Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't give a damn if the man in front of him respected him personally or not, but he _would,_ at the very least, recognize his authority as Hokage.

Muramasa gave a cold glare to the Hokage before he replied. "Cat and Dog were both trembling with rage as they read that file, I can trust them. I assume, given what you said concerning their orders earlier, that the people named Anko and Ibiki are trustworthy as well. Iruka Umino is also allowed to hear my talk with you, but anyone else who has never shown sympathy for Naruto must leave."

 _Interesting choice of words for those that he'll speak with. However, I cannot allow him to dictate his demands without placing restraints of my own on him._

"I will dismiss everyone except Iruka, Cat, and Dog if you agree to have chakra cuffs placed on you."

Muramasa's glare never let up, but he knew that it was actually a pretty reasonable counter-request. "Very well, let's hurry this up then."

 **5 minutes later**

There were now only six people in the room. The Hokage, Cat, Dog, Iruka, Naruto, and Muramasa. Anko and Ibiki were just getting started on Seiji Noumi's torture session, so they couldn't attend, but the Hokage was intending to tell them as much as he could as soon as this meeting was over and Naruto was safely in his bed.

"Where would you like me to begin?" Even though he was cuffed, Muramasa still gave off a feeling of being in absolute control.

"How about we start with how you appeared out of nowhere in my office?"

"Naruto carried me in."

Silence reigned in the room for a moment.

"Please explain what exactly you mean, because I'm fairly sure that we all would have noticed if Naruto had carried a full-grown man into the room."

"Forgive me, I seem to have been in Naruto's company a bit too long. Naruto carried me, and many others, in as the sword that he's treating like a teddy bear right now. To put it bluntly, I am not a human, but a sword. One of the many that he is learning to wield as a true partner."

Silence reigned again.

"That is… an interesting story, but how do you expect us to believe something so far-fetched? You are clearly talking and living before us, so it is rather hard to believe that you are what you say you are." Sarutobi was being understandably cautious.

"I can provide proof." With this the Legendary Blade scroll poofed into existence on the Hokage's desk. The fact that the slightest movement would now cause him to slit his own throat was barely noticed by Muramasa as he pointedly ignored the two ANBU now holding kunai to his neck. "This is the Legendary Blade summoning scroll. Naruto signed it, and he is now the only person ever to be able to summon every last one of us. The blade he has with him now is something we designed so that he would never be defenseless and would be able to summon any of us if he needs to."

"So, according to what you say, you have nothing but Naruto's best interests at heart. If that is the case, then why didn't you stop him from stealing the Forbidden Scroll. I cannot bring myself to believe that a 'Legendary Blade' would be able to be tricked as Naruto was." Sarutobi obviously wasn't convinced that Muramasa was what he claimed to be.

"I think that you misunderstand what I am saying. Yes, I do want the best for Naruto, but ultimately our relationship is not of guardian and child, but of Master and servant. I advised him against taking the 'test' that Mizuki offered him, but my job is _at most_ advisor. It is not my place to reprimand Naruto or forbid him from taking action. He is the swordsman and I am the sword, even _if_ he refuses to leave our relationship at that."

"So in other words, no matter what Naruto does, even if it is on _your_ advice, then he is the only one at fault. That seems very convenient for you…" Iruka was the one who spoke up this time, clearly concerned that his student would be manipulated into treason… again.

Muramasa, sensing that this would be the way that the entire conversation was going to go, decided that it was time for him to give his parting words.

"You seem to be under the impression that I seek to use Naruto to my own ends. Given what happened tonight, that is an understandable concern, but I do not appreciate the fact that you are treating everything I say as a lie. Naruto is my wielder and I intend to stay by his side until the day he dies. His enemies are my enemies, and his allies are my allies. Regardless of any of my personal feelings on the matter, I will do as Naruto says." And with that, Muramasa vanished like a mirage.

From the grip of two ANBU in the Hokage's office while the Hokage was watching.

Despite the fact that he was mad about the fact that Muramasa had all but told him, the HOKAGE for Pete's sake, off for rudeness, he had to admit that that was fairly impressive. He shortly contemplated having Naruto's sword kept in the Forbidden scroll as a cursed weapon, but discarded the idea immediately on the grounds that Naruto really was holding it like a teddy bear, which meant that he was very, _very_ attached to it. What's more, besides appearing in the Hokage's office without permission, Muramasa hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, he seemed to be helping Naruto disassociate himself from an inferiority complex that Sarutobi hadn't even noticed forming.

He puffed on his pipe for a minute as he considered what to do next. "Cat, Dog, Iruka."

" **Sir.** "

"I want you all to keep an eye on Naruto over the next few weeks, understood? This Muramasa seems to only follow Naruto, and if it's true then I'll be happy for him, but I won't be able to rest easy until I'm sure of his intentions." The Third Hokage released a sigh. "You are all dismissed, but call my guards back in on your way out."

"Yes Lord Hokage."

"I'll go ahead and take Naruto home, sir."

"Thank you, Iruka."

After they had all left, Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and sighed.

He really was getting too old for this shit.

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Sorry about the wait, but I just couldn't figure out how this meeting would go. I couldn't just cut it, because as I see it, the Hokage wouldn't just let any old person who had a friendly smile in to see Naruto, let alone stay with him as a fixture in his life, and this was an important conversation that needed to happen in order to keep Muramasa from being considered an enemy at a key moment.

Also, I am still welcoming any ideas for swords to include in the story. I can't promise that I'll use a person's idea, but if you can tell me 'where' it's from and why you think I should use it, I'll probably consider it. The only guidelines are that they cannot be universe-specific (like Keyblades or the Master Sword), has to have a name (can't use Yoda's lightsaber, even though I want to, with that), the basic form has to be a sword(like a zanpakutou), and it can't be something that's precisely counted in another universe(No Buso Renkin or Akame ga Kill swords for instance).


	7. Good Luck With That

Disclaimer: I have never owned any copyrighted material, EVER. I do not receive any payment for any story that I write for , I won't be listing everything that belongs to someone else or the owners, because it would be too big of a hassle for me to list every possible thing that I might borrow from another series. If you really wanna know, tough, look it up yourself.

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 ** _Four days after the Mizuki incident_**

A team of shadows was moving silently through the forest, preparing for an assault that they knew had to be coming from this area. It was the only way that made any sense, seeing as every other route to the complex they were guarding was staffed with just as many shadows and were even less accessible than the genjutsu-shrouded forest that they were patrolling. There was no way through for the enemy. This time they would finally-

 ** _BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!_**

"IZANAMI DAMN THAT DEVIL CHILD!" Dog's extensive swearing could be heard shortly after the alarm which signaled the failure of the 'mission' finished blaring. He was, of course, speaking of this lesson's unusual opponent, Naruto Uzumaki. Now unlike when many other people called Naruto the same thing, he wasn't calling him that because he thought that Naruto was the Nine-tailed Fox, but because over the four days that they had been repeating this Godsforsaken exercise, ANBU had yet to win a single time.

Quite frankly, it was humiliating to think that the entirety of ANBU, the pinnacle of shinobi might in any Hidden Village, was being bested by a twelve-year old genin… wearing a freakin' orange jumpsuits of all things.

As they all trudged back to the training facility that the Hokage had designated to be their lodgings for the duration of the, as the Hokage had dubbed it, 're-training period.'

 **-Flashback -**

 _"_ _It has come to my attention that ANBU may have become somewhat… lax… recently."  
"Lord Hokage, What do you mean?" An operative by the name of Gorilla was the one who asked this question._

 _"_ _I mean that a twelve-year old_ _ **academy student**_ _was able to completely bypass my guards and steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals, and, from his account, the only jutsu that he used was that_ _ **Sexy Jutsu**_ _that he took me out with. Now I realize that I cannot blame any of you for the fact that I let myself be taken down by such a simple technique, but there is still the fact that Naruto was able to get into the Hokage mansion, steal the scroll of seals, defeat me, and escape, on less than two hours notice, wearing a kill-me-orange jumpsuit, and the only reason that any of you knew that this had happened was that Kiwi had to use the restroom and stumbled across my unconscious form."_

 _Put altogether like that, it was pretty obvious that they had dropped the ball. Naruto could have_ _ **killed**_ _Sarutobi if he wanted to, and gotten off scott-free too._

 _"_ _As such, I have decided to implement a 're-training' course, of sorts. It will function like a normal mission to guard an important complex from an 'enemy combatant' or to at least catch him should you fail in the first objective."_

 _That seemed fair enough to the gathered ANBU, they may have screwed the pooch this time, but this exercise should give them the chance to redeem themselves. Especially since several of the ANBU gathered were from clans famous for reconnaissance such as the Hyuuga and the Inuzukas._

 _One such member, Hawk, decided that it would be best to have as much information as possible, and so asked a question he thought to be fairly important._

 _"_ _Sir, may we know who will be playing the role of 'enemy combatant' in this 're-training' scenario?"_

 _The Hokage answered dutifully. "Naruto Uzumaki is to be your opponent. It seems only fair seeing as he was the one who inspired this little exercise. You'll have the rest of tonight to set up, and I'll let him know in the morning. It will be a nice pick-me-up for him."_

 _The ANBU gathered in the Hokage's office figured that he was just trying to be nice to Naruto, while at the same time reminding his troops to keep their guards up, so none of them really expected this to be much of a challenge. Many even briefly considered going easy on the kid to help boost his confidence._

 **-Flashback End-**

They all rescinded that opinion the next day, after Naruto had written 'Naruto Uzumaki, next Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was here. For heroic Hokage awesomeness call XXX-XXX-XXXX, and our operator will be in touch with you as soon as possible, but it could be a while cause heroic awesomeness is always needed somewhere. P.S. I saw you picking your nose Baboon.' On top of their training facility… in fire… within the first five minutes of the exercise starting.

After that little pride-crusher, all of them were a lot more alert, and took their enemy far more seriously.

It didn't seem to matter though, because no matter what they tried, or how hard they looked, Naruto always seemed to get the drop on them.

This time the cheeky little bastard had drawn a detailed map of the area on the wall. What really made it infuriating was that Naruto had marked the positions of every ANBU in the exercise down including their code names next to each position. Not only that, but he had seen fit to draw in the route that he had taken in order to get that information as well as into the facility and back out again. After looking at it for a moment, Dog noticed something particularly odd. His path seemed to make a shape of some sort, maybe a-

 _Oh, you have got to be KIDDING me!_ Dog raged silently.

Unfortunately, he knew that if he didn't tell the others, Naruto might try to do the exact same thing again to double the humiliation, so keeping quiet about the prank within a prank that Naruto pulled wasn't an option.

"Guys, take a closer look at Naruto's path. It would seem that he left us a message with his madness." Dog had to stop himself from rubbing his temples as he said this.

As the rest of the 'guards' looked closer they all noticed the same thing.

Naruto had made sure that his path took the form of a fox mask, whiskers and all.

With his usually uncovered eye twitching beneath his mask, Dog vowed that this humiliation would be avenged. _Too bad Naruto, if you had known that I was going to be your Jonin instructor you might have decided not to poke the bear like this._

Too bad Kakashi, if he had known, it wouldn't have made a lick of difference.

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Sorry about the wait everyone. I was trying to figure something out, before I finally decided to just go ahead and do this first.


	8. Last Day of School

Disclaimer: I have never owned any copyrighted material, EVER. I do not receive any payment for any story that I write for , I won't be listing everything that belongs to someone else or the owners, because it would be too big of a hassle for me to list every possible thing that I might borrow from another series. If you really wanna know, tough, look it up yourself.

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It had been about a week since the genin exams and everyone who had passed had gathered back in their old academy classroom for team assignments. For the most part people sat in their old seats from before they'd passed. After all, old habits die hard. It was so much like when they were still in the academy that it was a good half hour before anyone noticed that Naruto hadn't passed the genin exam, yet he had still shown up for team assignment day.

It was Shikamaru Nara, a young man sporting a black pineapple haircut and a grey jacket over a mesh shirt with his Leaf headband tied around his left upper arm, who eventually spoke up about it, "Hey, Naruto, only genin are supposed to be here today!"

"Only genin, huh? Well then, I guess it's a good thing that I am one! See the headband, see?!" Naruto replied while pointing enthusiastically at his forehead protector.

"What a drag…" _I thought that we'd be leaving the annoying guy behind._

At this point a pretty pink-haired girl wearing a red cheongsam dress walked up next to Naruto and got his attention. "Hey Sakura! Wanna sit next to me?"

"Not a chance, Naruto! Move over so I can sit on your other side!" This brought the orange genin's attention to the person sitting to his left. _Ugh, why the hell was this jerk so popular!? Maybe I should just-_

Naruto's hands had been inching closer and closer to each other for a hand seal when the black-haired boy wearing a blue high-collared top and white shorts noticed his glare.

"What?"

"What yourself?!" Not Naruto's finest moment, especially when Sakura kept him from forming a more menacing or even just less lame reply by pushing down on his head as she loudly asked Sasuke Uchiha if she could sit next to him.

Taking his silence as a yes she immediately planted herself next to him.

Naruto continued to glare from the other side of her. _Man, what's so good about this guy?_

At this point he had climbed up on the desk in front of his crush's crush and was glaring at him from point-blank range.

"Naruto, leave Sasuke alone!" Sakura called from right next to them.

"Kick his ass, Sasuke!" called his fanclub.

As they continued their glaring contest, Naruto's instincts suddenly told him that he needed to jump or he would regret it.

Luckily for both of them Naruto heeded his instincts and leapt above the row of seats behind Sasuke and over into the area at the top of the classroom, which meant that the arm of the guy sitting directly in front of the young Uchiha DIDN'T hit Naruto's backside propelling him into his first kiss.

Most of the class thought that he was just goofing off, but as Naruto flipped mid-jump he happened to see where aforementioned arm was and figured out what would have happened had he not heeded his instincts. _Thank you, Benihime!_

"Man, he's so damn annoying." "Trying to show off, Dead Last?" "Man what a loser…"

As he walked back to his seat, those were only a few of the comments that he overheard throughout the classroom.

 _Annoying little shits. Why does Naruto have to put up with this crap?_

 _I don't like it anymore than you do Benihime, but this is not their fault. They've been told for years that Naruto is the dead-last of their class. He will have to far surpass all of them before they'll even admit that he could possibly be a threat._

 _Shut the hell up Muramasa! Don't tell me it's not their fault! At the very least, the comments that they're making are out of line!_

 _Would you two knock it off! I can't hear myself think over your squabbling! And who cares what they say about me! I'll prove them all wrong and become Hokage!_

As Naruto focused back on the class, he heard what Iruka was saying. "So today we will create three-man teams and each team will also have a Jounin-sensei. You will follow your Sensei's every instruction and complete missions. We have done our best to balance every team's strengths and weaknesses. Now, teams will be as follows... Team 7 will be Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto's head drooped as he considered the fact that he would have to be on the same team as that jerk Sasuke. On the other hand, being with Sakura all the time would be nice. Well, hopefully whatever Jounin-sensei they got would be a good one.

He was so caught up in thinking, that he didn't hear who was on all the other teams.

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Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were the only ones left in the room. Everyone else's Jounin-senseis had already come and gone over an hour ago, and their sensei still had yet to show up.

Naruto was getting bored, and as anyone in the Hidden Leaf Village could tell you, that is a really, really, terrifying thought. Luckily for Kakashi, he still wanted to make a good impression on his new sensei.

So he figured he'd tone down the pranks for today. He'd just put an eraser in the door, he wouldn't even put glue on it or set it on fire!

"Pffft. Like a Jounin would fall for such an obvious trap." said Sasuke.

"I'm not involved with this." spake Sakura.

Plop! went the eraser as it dropped on Kakashi's head less than a minute later.

Silence reigned for about twenty seconds before Naruto let his amusement show.

"Wow! I got you! I really got you!"

"I'm so sorry sensei, I tried to stop Naruto, but…"

Sasuke just sat and glowered.

"Hmm, how can I say this? My first impression of you all is… you're a bunch of idiots. Meet me on the roof in five minutes for introductions."

 _ **5 minutes later**_

"Well, let's begin with introducing ourselves." Kakashi wanted to go ahead and get the ball rolling on this so he could start tortu-teaching, I mean, teaching, his new team.

"What do you want to know?" Sakura asked.

"Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, stuff like that."

"Why don't you go first, then, sensei. Show us what you mean."

"Oh… me? Well, my name's Kakashi Hatake. Likes and dislikes… I don't feel like telling you. My dreams for the future… don't really have any. And as for hobbies… I have lots of hobbies."

 _All we found out was his name…_ was Team 7's simultaneous thought.

"All right, your turn. Let's start with Mr. Kill-Me-Orange on the right here."

"Okay! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are cup ramen and weapon maintenance. I like it even more when Iruka-sensei takes me out to Ichiraku's. My dislikes are the 3 minutes it takes for the ramen to cook. Oh and I hate rust too."

 _Does he only think about ramen and swords?_ Kakashi started to worry a bit about his most colorful student.

"And my dream… is to become the greatest Hokage _and_ history's greatest swordsman. Then everyone will see that I'm the best ninja that ever was a ninja and start respecting me."

 _Hmm. Not only the Hokage, he wants to become, as he put it, history's greatest swordsman. That's a surprise. Muramasa must have had more of an effect on him than we thought. This is getting interesting._

"Hobbies? Pranks and sword maintenance I guess."

"I see… You're up next, Tall-Dark-and-Broody."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are lots of things I dislike and I don't really like anything. And… I can't really call it a dream… but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan… and to kill a certain man."

 _Just as I thought_ the jounin noted.

"Ok… and I guess that means that you're last, girly."

"My name is Sakura Haruno. The thing I like is… well, the person I like is… uhm, my dream for the future… uhm…?" she broke off giggling for a moment. "What I dislike is NARUTO!" Said boy started drawing on the ground in a cloud of gloom at that declaration. "My hobby is…" she didn't finish. She just glanced shyly at Sasuke.

 _Girls this age are more interested in romance than ninja training._

"Well, I guess that'll do for the introductions. Tomorrow, we'll start our duties as shinobi."

"Yeah! What kinds of super-cool duties will we get as shinobi, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto cried out.

"We're going to start with something for just the four of us."

"Really? What!"

"Survival training." Kakashi promptly replied to Naruto's question.

"Survival training?" Naruto looked confused, Sasuke just sat there calmly and Sakura looked almost as confounded as Naruto.

"Why is our first duty going to be training? We did plenty of survival exercises at the Academy, Sensei."

Kakashi started chuckling creepily. _Very_ creepily.

"What's so funny, Sensei?" Sakura asked, annoyed.

"Uhm, well… It's just that… When I tell you this, you guys are going to totally freak out…"

"Freak out? Why?" Naruto was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Of the twenty-seven of you who graduated, only nine will be selected to become Genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This 'training' is actually an exam with a failure rate of more than sixty-six percent."

 _Whaaaat!? I can't be sent back to the Academy! If I don't become a genin now, I'll never be a ninja!_

 _Are you Freaking kidding me!? I get put on a team with Sasuke, and now there's a chance that we'll be pulled apart again!? This can't be happening, Cha!_

 _No matter what happens, I_ _ **will**_ _become a ninja. I must, to kill_ _ **him.**_

Kakashi started laughing out loud. "See, I told you you'd freak out."

"WHAT! Then what was the fucking point of graduating?!"

"Oh, that? That was merely to select those who had the _potential_ to become genin."

"You've gotta be freakin' kidding me!"

"Anyway, tomorrow you'll have to show your true skills to us all. Bring every ninja tool you've got. Oh, yeah… make sure not to eat breakfast, or you'll throw up."

 _There's no way that it could be any worse than Benihime's tor-training. I've gotta show him that I'm strong enough to be a ninja, or it's the end of the road._

"The details are on this paper, and make sure not to be late." Kakashi eye-smiled at them as he handed out the sheets.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

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You may have noticed that there are only a few variations from canon and that I tend to skip around a bit. For the most part, in the early chapters I'm going to focus mainly on what's different from Naruto canon, and as for the fact that nothing much has changed, well, I'm working from a 'butterfly effect' standpoint. Basically, more stuff changes as time goes on. It starts off almost the same, but the changes will keep coming and increasing in both size and type.


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